Disclaimer: If you don't recognize them, they're mine. If you do recognize them, they belong to either Joss Whedon or Glenn Eichler.
X X X X X
The doc had just told her what happened at the Morgendorffer place (she still couldn't think of it as 'home') on April 10, 1997.
"Now, Faith," she said. "Does this trigger any memories? Because Daria's still stuck on April 9."
Faith was about to say no when an image flashed into her head:
Her mother, lying on the floor, but instead of dead, dying. Face covered in blood. Red hair. Much nicer clothes than she'd ever remembered.
She looked up when Faith came into the room. "Sweetie," she gasped out.
That's where the image ended. But it was different from what she'd been remembering for years, so she told Dr. Vaughn what she'd just seen.
"I realize it ain't much," she said.
The doc acted like Faith had just discovered a cure for cancer. "This is big, Faith," she said. "It could be the first step towards --"
"Towards getting rid of me forever? Sorry, doc, can't see the upside." Faith was fairly sure Daria could be trusted to keep her word about making sure Faith didn't disappear, and Faith was going to keep her word back, but she wasn't so sure about the doc.
She knew Dr. Vaughn could be trusted to do the right thing. But Faith kinda thought maybe her idea of the right thing and the doc's might not be compatible.
"Towards integrating you," Dr. Vaughn said. "Towards making you one person again."
"I ain't sure that would work, though. While Daria and me, we've come to some sort of understanding, I don't know if the person I was and the person I am have a whole hell of a lot in common. Other than, apparently, a knack for keeping people from getting too close. Only she does it by bein' sarcastic and I do it by beating the shit out of them."
The doc opened her mouth, but there was a knock on the door before she could say anything. She went over to the door and looked through the window, then stepped outside for a couple of minutes. When she got back, there were two other women with her. One was the prison warden – Juarez, Faith thought her name was. She'd never seen the other one.
"I'm sorry to have to interrupt our session, Faith," Dr. Vaughn said.
"No prob. I know you wouldn't let it happen without a good reason."
"Faith," the warden said. "This is Carla Fisk with the LA County District Attorney's office. We've been discussing your situation."
Looking at the DA, Faith said, "I haven't changed my mind. I still plan on servin' out my full sentence, whatever that turns out to be."
"That may not be your call, Ms. Lehane," the attorney said. "This is extremely complex and Ms. Morgendorffer's wishes are also important here."
"I killed two people," Faith said. Actually, she'd killed three, but she hadn't been able to figure out how to confess to the guy in the airport. Also, the Mayor's vamps had disposed of the body, anyway. "I got some serious time to put in to make up for that."
"You may be one of the first prisoners I've ever met who said they were guilty and wasn't on a religious kick," the attorney said. "Anyway, I haven't made any decisions yet. I need to talk to Daria Morgendorffer first."
Faith looked at the doc. "Bring it on, then."
"Not quite yet," DA Fisk said. "I need to talk to you for a few minutes, also."
Faith grinned. "Doing a comparison, huh? Seeing if maybe you can trip us up?"
"There's always the chance that this is all some kind of act," DA Fisk said.
"Sure there is. That ain't the case, but I don't blame you for wanting to check."
They talked for about ten minutes about the case, her life, prison, and Daria, and then the DA said, "I think that's enough for the moment. Dr. Vaughn, would you mind bringing Daria out?"
Dr. Vaughn looked at Faith to make sure she was okay with this. When Faith nodded her head, the doc said, "Jake, Helen, Qui—"
X X X X X
"This is good," Daria said when she came back to herself. "Two new people. I see you've granted my request for entertainment." She looked at the two women. "I'm Daria Morgendorffer. And you are?"
The short Hispanic woman said that she was Bonita Juarez, the prison's warden. The blonde woman introduced herself as Carla Fisk, ADA. "But we're not here for your entertainment, Miss Morgendorffer."
Daria said, "Every time before now when I've come to I was in this room facing Dr. Vaughn. Trust me, any break from the routine is entertaining."
The warden and the ADA looked at each other before the warden said, "You were right about one thing, Lynette. She's nothing like Faith."
"Except for this body we're inconveniently sharing," Daria said. "Now. Why are you here? Presuming you're not actually here to entertain me, I'd say that you're not just visiting me for your own amusement either. Unless you're tremendously bored and don't have cable."
"No," Dr. Vaughn said. "Now that we've confirmed that you and Faith are split personalities, Warden Juarez has taken the step of contacting the DA office so we can see where to go next."
Daria looked at ADA Fisk and the warden. "Honestly, I would have expected something like this to be swept under the rug."
The ADA said, "You're quite cynical, Miss Morgendorffer."
"I prefer to think of myself as a realist. And, realistically, having something like this happen can't possibly bring good publicity to anyone involved. Not to me, not to you, not to anyone. So I'd be surprised if quietly sticking me in a back room hadn't been discussed at some point along the way."
"It was," the warden said. "Briefly. And then dismissed." Daria was surprised and pleased by the honesty.
"That doesn't mean that this is going to end with you free to walk the street," ADA Fisk said. "But it won't be because we're trying to make sure you don't embarrass us. I promise you that." Daria believed that the woman believed what she was saying.
Which still didn't mean that someone else, somewhere along the line, might not decide that burying the problem was easiest for everyone involved.
"I'll accept that for now. So. You came to talk to me. What would you like to discuss?" She grinned slightly. "If it's the X-Files, I'm sorry to have to tell you that I'm about four seasons behind the times."
"You haven't missed much," the ADA said, shocking her. "They still haven't given us any clear answers of the main conspiracy. And David Duchovny's not on the show full-time any more anyway." Then her face got serious. "The first thing I came here to figure out is whether this was some kind of ploy on your part to get out of jail."
"The dental records match," the warden said.
"So that proves that Daria and Faith are the same person," ADA Fisk said. "That doesn't prove that "Faith" isn't completely fictional and that instead of being a split personality Miss Morgendorffer isn't just a hell of an actress."
Daria blinked when she heard this. The woman couldn't be serious. "Ah yes. Following your somewhat Byzantine chain of logic, why wouldn't I have brought this out when I confessed?"
"Because you were saving your performance for after you'd gotten on our good side by voluntarily confessing to two murders."
Daria said sarcastically, "Yes. I can see how that would get the police to like me. Perhaps had I confessed to more murders they would have thrown me a parade." Then she had a thought. "Are you saying this because you believe it, or just to see how I'd react?"
"More the second than the first," the ADA admitted.
"Consider my chain yanked. Are you now convinced that Faith and I are different?" Daria asked.
"As much as I can be given a five-minute interview. The most important thing to me is that Dr. Vaughn is convinced."
"I am," Dr. Vaughn said. "Completely. Curing her could be a long process. But I am absolutely convinced that until last week Faith Lehane had no knowledge that she was born Daria Morgendorffer. I am also convinced that Ms. Morgendorffer has approximately a four-year gap in her memories."
"The last day I remember is April 9, 1997," Daria said. "Faith remembers April 10 but her memories are obviously wrong."
Dr. Vaughn looked at ADA Fisk. "Do you think you could get us the case files from whatever DA's office ended up handling the Willard Jay Harbaugh case? It's possible they might trigger some buried memories. Either in Faith or Daria."
The ADA thought for a second and said, "That can't hurt. I can't guarantee they'll cooperate, but I'll do what I can."
She stood up. Obviously, the interview had come to an end. Daria was fairly sure she believed that she and Faith were separate individuals – otherwise she'd have put off Dr. Vaughn's request with some excuse.
Daria nodded to both of the unfamiliar women. "Warden. ADA Fisk. I can't say it was a pleasure to meet you, under the circumstances, but it did break up the monotony for a brief period, and for that, I am grateful."
"Are you always this cynical?" ADA Fisk asked.
Daria judged the question to be out of genuine interest, not hostility. "No. This is me actually trying to be helpful. You haven't seen me when I'm at the top of my game."
"Strong men tremble?" The ADA asked.
"And weak ones weep." Daria allowed the shadow of a smile to cross her face.
They left and soon enough it was time to bid memory goodbye for a while. "Faith Ellen Leha—"
X X X X X
As they walked back to her office, Bonita Juarez asked Carla Fisk, "Are you convinced?"
"I'm convinced. I just don't want to get their hopes up."
Bonita said, "What clinched it for you?"
"Dr. Vaughn's opinion got me most of the way," Fisk said. "The rest of it was seeing how they both reacted when I told them I thought it might all be an act. The Daria personality had no clue that I was going to say anything like that. If that look of shock on her face was faked, then she's a better actress than Meryl Streep."
X X X X X
They met in their dreams again.
"Am I a Morgendorffer dreaming she is a Lehane, or a Lehane dreaming she is a Morgendorffer?"
"Six of one, half a dozen of the other."
"You understood the reference?"
"People keep thinkin' I'm stupid. I wasn't expectin' me to think I was stupid. I saw it in a meditation book."
"I don't think you're stupid, Faith. I think you're uneducated. Although at this point you probably have more of an education than I do."
"Maybe. I still got a way to go before I can take the GED. So, what'd you and the DA talk about? She was gone when I got back."
"Me, you, what she was going to do for us, and whether I was a lying, scheming bitch. And the X-Files."
"You're shittin' me."
"No. Apparently David Duchovny's not a regular anymore."
"That ain't what I meant. She ran the same line past me. She was checkin' out our reactions. I know you got a bit of a stone face, but did she look like she believed you?"
"She did. Trust me, the shock showed. Tell me, did Dr. Vaughn give you the details on the day my parents –"
"On the day our parents died? Yeah. Actually got something from that. Not much, but the doc says it's a start."
"That's good. She also got the ADA to agree to give us some of the behind-the-scenes details on the case against the man who killed them. I'm still not remembering anything past the time I went to bed on April 9. So it's going to have to be you."
"I'll do my best. This ain't something that rational thought seems to do much good for, though."
"I know. Which is probably one of the reasons I'm doing so poorly at it."